Somewhere during my installation, I forgot to make my Windows partition (as well as a drive that linux associates with Windows) writable. Is there any way to make them writable, without re-installing everything?
So you did not tell us much about your system, what version of openSUSE are you using for instance (11.3 or 11.2 or what ever it might be). What desktop are you using (KDE or GNOME or something else)? Now normally when you install openSUSE, any Windows partitions that can be read, will be mounted for you. Further, an entry will be made for you in your Grub menu in order to run that partition, though openSUSE may offer to run something that is not there. A Windows partition would be either a NTFS partition or a FAT or FAT32 partition type.
So, we need to know more about your disk setup to help you out. In order to find out about your disks and partitions you need to execute the following terminal commands. Open up terminal session (which looks like an old DOS session if you are old enough to know about those) and type the following commands:
su -
password: <enter root password>
fdisk -l
You can then copy and past this information into a message here. Don’t forget to surround the whole thing with the code “#” button (which is what I did with the above commands).
Next, you need to post the contents of your fstab file so we can see what is getting mounted for you. If you use KDE then select the menu and Run Command:
kdesu kwrite /etc/fstab
Copy and past the contents of your fstab file for us to read. Do not modify this file and just close it after you post what is says.
Next, we want to know what is in your Grub Menu.lst file when you startup openSUSE. Again, using KDE use the menu Run Command:
kdesu kwrite /boot/grub/menu.lst
Again copy and past the contents of your menu.lst file for us to read. Do not modify this file and just close it after you post what is says.
With this requested information we should be able to tell you what you have and provide some possible solutions to you.
Thank You,
How did you miss out on windows? You must install the windows system first before Linux to avoid Windows over-writing the boot sequence.
Did you leave room to make a NTFS partition? Or maybe you want to use virtualbox with windows running in virtual mode? These things I can’t guess.
First things first:
- Do you have Windows Install Media, what flavor of Windows, was it originally pre-installed, and if it was did you make the installation media DVD’s?
- What is the hardware configuration of your system … may have importance to best way to help you.
- What do you want as the final system organization?
- Normally, You would Install Windows (unless pre-installed), defrag the windows drive, then use Linux to shrink the volume to size you want for windows.
- You would finish defining the partitions for Linux and proceed with the install of Linux.
- Go into windows and make sure everything is working normally
- go into Linux and start playing with updates, customizations, adding desired packages and so forth.
Ah, okay… my biggest mistake was not being specific enough. I greatly apologize.
Let’s see…
Disk setup:
Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6adf6ad
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 9884 79393198+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 * 9885 19457 76895122+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 9885 10146 2104483+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 10147 12757 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 12758 19457 53817718+ 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sdb: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
240 heads, 63 sectors/track, 41345 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15120 * 512 = 7741440 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf6de57f0
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 41345 312568168+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
As for the fstab file…
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part6 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part7 /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part1 /windows/C ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200SB-01KMA0_WD-WMAMR1646328-part1 /windows/D ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
And the grub menu…
# Modified by YaST2. Last modification on Mon Mar 29 02:24:05 CDT 2010
# THIS FILE WILL BE PARTIALLY OVERWRITTEN by perl-Bootloader
# Configure custom boot parameters for updated kernels in /etc/sysconfig/bootloader
default 0
timeout 8
gfxmenu (hd0,5)/boot/message
##YaST - activate
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: linux###
title Desktop -- openSUSE 11.2 - 2.6.31.12-0.2
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-0.2-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part6 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part5 splash=silent quiet showopts vga=0x31a
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.31.12-0.2-desktop
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: failsafe###
title Failsafe -- openSUSE 11.2 - 2.6.31.12-0.2
root (hd0,5)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31.12-0.2-desktop root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part6 showopts apm=off noresume nosmp maxcpus=0 edd=off powersaved=off nohz=off highres=off processor.max_cstate=1 x11failsafe vga=0x31a
initrd /boot/initrd-2.6.31.12-0.2-desktop
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows 1###
title windows 1
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1
###Don't change this comment - YaST2 identifier: Original name: windows 2###
title windows 2
map (hd1) (hd0)
map (hd0) (hd1)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
I’ll be sure not to be so vague in the future.
Now to directly address your question, to make the two Windows NTFS partitions which are mounted at /windows/C & /windows/D fully read and writable, make the following changes to your fstab file:
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part1 /windows/C ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200SB-01KMA0_WD-WMAMR1646328-part1 /windows/D ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
To make these changes, you do the same basic thing you did to post their contents only now you will also save the file once the changes are made. Using the KDE menu Run Command:
kdesu kwrite /etc/fstab
Since you did not expand on your issues, this is what appears to be your solution, but I will entertain other problems and solutions as required to help you out.
Thank You,
Unfortunately, this didn’t help… I now get an ‘access denied’ error message whenever I try to modify/add files to either partition.
Well, I would now re-post your entire fstab file with the two changes I suggested, to make sure it was done properly. Further, you must tell us what you are trying to do in which you get this error. The requested changes will make these two partitions read and writable without a doubt. However, oddities can still remain. For instance, I have tried to write PDF files outside my home area using ACROREAD and they will not save. But the problem is ACROREAD and not how the partitions are setup. Most often I am using Dolphin to copy and paste files into and out of the NTFS partitions. We must assume that the two partitions are not messed up in some way. If you still have a bootable windows partition, you can use Windows to checkout the NTFS partitions. Also, it is past my bedtime here in Austin and so it will be Thursday Afternoon before I will be back online.
Thank You,
Here is the modified fstab file:
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part5 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part6 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part7 /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part1 /windows/C ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD3200SB-01KMA0_WD-WMAMR1646328-part1 /windows/D ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
I use dolphin to navigate these partitions.
The actions I attempt are copying a .txt file within either partition, and then copying a .txt file from my linux partition to the windows partition. Both of these actions are met with an access denied message.
Thank you for taking some of your time in trying to help me. It is much appreciated.
I am able to access and read/write these partitions without error when I am running Windows.
For reference, mines like this (with user r/w access)
ntfs-3g user,users,gid=users, umask=0002 0 0
So, you could use
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-55PSA0_WD-WMAP92554443-part1 /windows/C ntfs-3g user,users,gid=users, umask=0002 0 0
you may get an access denied if the windows system has not cleanly shutdown which is often the case after doing an install where you modified partitions such as resizing. If you can get into windows, you should be able to resolve this but doing a chkdisk -f &/or a defrag of windows drives then a normal shutdown.
The “defaults” settings works just find for NTFS partitions. Anytime you make a change to the fstab file, don’t forget to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
Thank You,